Tumwater pushes ahead on affordable housing efforts, as crisis keeps growing

In July 2018, the Tumwater City Council passed a resolution on housing and homelessness that set out three goals: reduce homelessness, increase affordable housing, and explore more regional solutions through collaboration with other local governments.

Going on four years later, the city has increased allowable housing density, changed zoning to encourage accessory dwelling units, duplexes, townhouses and rowhouses, and reduced parking requirements. They are now working on reducing park and transportation impact fees, connection charges and development review fees.

Momentum for more change is gathering steam, as it should. In the past 10 years, only 69 of nearly 12,000 total new housing units for low-income people were built, nearly all by nonprofit housing developers such as the Housing Authority of Thurston County.

Meanwhile, homeless encampments grew, especially in the last couple of years. It’s pretty safe to say that no one in Tumwater city government would now claim that Tumwater does not have a problem with homelessness or a growing scarcity of affordable housing.

At one point, city officials were thinking about how to create incentives for new houses under 1,500 square feet that could sell for $200,000. That would be the price affordable for those at 80 percent of median family income. It didn’t take long to recognize that was an impossible goal.

Brad Medrud, the city’s Acting Permit and Planning Manager, says, “We now realize none of the new housing being built by private-sector developers will be affordable, and we will have to turn to nonprofits and small older houses.” And at this point, small older houses that would sell for $200,000 are scarce as hens’ teeth.

Medrud says the Tumwater City Council is about a month away from adopting a housing action plan, as well as settling on a new round of fee and permit reductions for low-income housing, particularly housing that will remain affordable permanently through deed restrictions or because it is provided by nonprofits. They are acutely aware of the limited value of multi-family property tax reductions for low-income housing that allow owners to raise prices after eight or 12 years.

They also are working on development of incentives for housing – including apartments – built in the Brewery District and on or near adjacent bus lines. And for quite some time they’ve issued plaintive calls to faith communities to provide a shelter or at least a few tiny houses for people who are homeless.

Tumwater is smaller than either Lacey or Olympia by half; its population is not quite 25,000, compared to the 50,000-plus of both its neighbors. Recognizing the limits of its own capacity, Medrud recognizes that collaboration with other local governments through the Regional Housing Council “will be our most efficient, effective way” to make a difference in local low-income housing and homelessness reduction efforts.

He reports that the RHC is working on having all its members — Thurston County, Lacey, Tumwater, Olympia, Yelm and Tumwater — pool some of their federal stimulus money to build new permanent supportive housing for people who are homeless if they can figure out financing for long-term operating costs. Tumwater leaders say they would welcome such a facility in their town if a suitable site can be found.

All of this is both encouraging and disheartening — encouraging to see Tumwater leaders collaborating with local partners and digging deeper to address the problems, and disheartening to see how long it’s taking.

In the meantime, the private-sector housing market becomes more dysfunctional with every passing month.

The Housing Authority of Thurston County is working towards building a second phase of Sequoia Landing, an affordable apartment and townhouse complex in Tumwater built in 2012. The second phase will cost $100,000 more per unit. Lumber prices have doubled; construction costs continue to rise like smoke.

The median home price in Thurston County is $430,000. And here’s the current trend: People priced out of Seattle turn to Tacoma, people from Tacoma are pushed into Thurston County; people from Thurston County — including both young families and elders — are being pushed out of Thurston County to Shelton, Elma, Aberdeen, Centralia and other smaller towns.

And it’s almost certain that more people are being pushed out of housing altogether.

Given these crazy circumstances, we laud Tumwater and all our local governments for pushing an ever-growing rock up an ever-steeper mountain. It seems churlish to wish they would push harder and faster, given what they’re up against.

Our only faintly realistic hope is that President Biden and our star-crossed Congress will inject enough funding into low-income housing subsidies to match the scale of this growing crisis. And we no longer care whether it’s a bipartisan project.

This story was originally published June 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.